Spartacus Club Invites Socialist to Meeting

Since Washington mustered his troops in the Yard, revolution has been an integral part of Harvard's legacy.

This tradition continued last night in Emerson Hall, when the Friends of the Spartacus Youth Club invited Doris Kohn, a German socialist, to discuss her experiences fighting a neo-Nazi protest in Berlin.

On February 15th, neo-Nazis marched through Berlin to support restrictions on immigration. A counter-demonstration was organized to protest and a street battle erupted.

The police force arrested 104 protesters who tried to interfere with the neo-Nazi march.

Kohn blames the recent resurgence of fascism in Germany on capitalist reforms enacted after reunification.

"The onslaught against the welfare state creates an economic crisis," she told a group of 15 Cambridge residents last night. "This leads to the scapegoating of immigrants."

Germany's unemployment rate reached a post-war high when it recently rose above 12 percent. Incidents of xenophobic violence have increased steadily since capitalism spread into East Germany.

Kohn is a member of the "Spartakist" Workers Party, a socialist organization which adheres to the doctrines of Lenin and Trotsky.

She said her group, in the tradi- tion of Trotsky, formed a United Front with other leftist groups to stop the march.

"Each group was united in a common goal," she said. "But they were free to--and they did--criticize each other's methods."

The speech was meant to coincide with a sit-in at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, in which several Spartacus Youth Club members participated.

While the U. Mass. protest called for an increase in minority representation on campus, the Spartacus club released a statement condemning capitalist control of universities.

"Free quality education for all," it read. "Abolish the administration and nationalize the private universities."

Michael Grant, a spokesperson for the group, explained its goal of socialist revolution.

"We believe that society is run under a capitalist system that is inherently racist," he said. "We seek to lead a socialist revolution based on the multi-racial, integrated working class."

The Spartacus Youth Club has been active since 1963, but its membership has fluctuated. Grant attributes the group's current low membership to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

"Although we did try to protect the Soviet Union from imperialist encroachment," he said, "we did try to incite a revolution from within the deformed worker's state.

"Each group was united in a common goal," she said. "But they were free to--and they did--criticize each other's methods."

The speech was meant to coincide with a sit-in at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, in which several Spartacus Youth Club members participated.

While the U. Mass. protest called for an increase in minority representation on campus, the Spartacus club released a statement condemning capitalist control of universities.

"Free quality education for all," it read. "Abolish the administration and nationalize the private universities."

Michael Grant, a spokesperson for the group, explained its goal of socialist revolution.

"We believe that society is run under a capitalist system that is inherently racist," he said. "We seek to lead a socialist revolution based on the multi-racial, integrated working class."

The Spartacus Youth Club has been active since 1963, but its membership has fluctuated. Grant attributes the group's current low membership to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

"Although we did try to protect the Soviet Union from imperialist encroachment," he said, "we did try to incite a revolution from within the deformed worker's state.